It's up to Deputy Justice Minister Monika Jankovská or the Smer party that has nominated her to establish political and personal accountability and to reconsider her tenure in the post, the Justice Ministry stated on Monday in reaction to calls for her resignation over contacts with shady businessman Marian Kočner. He is charged with ordering the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak as well as tax fraud. In messages that allegedly came from Kočner, he referred to Jankovská as his "little pet monkey" at the Justice Ministry. A judge by profession, she has been Deputy Justice Minister since 2012. Police seized Jankovská's mobile last week but she denies any contact or communication with Kočner. She is currently on holiday. The phones of several judges, including Jankovská's own sister, and prosecutors were also seized by police in connection with the case.
While opposition parties and the President Zuzana Čaputová are calling for Jankovska to go, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (SMER-SD) denies what he called "hysterical outcries that the government is covering up for someone or that it is not acting". As the head of government, he does not want to and cannot intervene in the investigation. "Unless we know where the truth lies, let's not make judgments based on newspaper headlines. If she is guilty of acting against the expected conduct of a high-ranking public servant, I will take a resolute stand as I have always done until now," said the Prime Minister elaborated.
It is not the first time that Jankovská's name has made headlines. In 2017, the then Justice Minister Lucia Žitňanská threatened to resign if the Smer party made Jankovská a member of the Judicial Council, saying she does not represent the civil society but is a judge. In the end Smer gave up. Last year Ondrej Janíček, a businessman from Trenčin, publicly accused her of having links to a local mafia clan and helping them take over his property. Jankovská has denied these accusations and filed a criminal complaint against him.
